This Sunday Heroes celebrates the
35th Anniversary of the Charlotte MiniCon! As part of the celebration we are honored to have artist
Cliff Chiang appear as one of our featured guests. Aside from being universally regarded as one of the nicest guys in the industry, Cliff’s also one of comics’ top illustrators. Just take a look at DC’s new
Wonder Woman series and you’ll see why.  We recently talked with Cliff about his appearance this weekend, and some of his recent work. Make sure to stop by the MiniCon this Sunday and welcome Cliff back to Charlotte!
Heroes (H):Â Â Your collaboration with
Brian Azzarello dates back to your time as an editor of
100 Bullets and your work together on DC’s excellent
Doctor 13 stories. Â What made
Wonder Woman seem like the natural next step in your collaboration?
Cliff Chiang (CC): I’d been itching to work with Azz again ever since Doctor 13, but I had some longer projects that delayed those plans. When Azz called me about Wonder Woman, I realized it was a great opportunity to be creative and confuse people at the same time! I was in.
H: Your work with Azzarello on Wonder Woman has received wide acclaim, and of all DC’s 52 relaunched titles it’s probably one of the truest examples of how to start a title over.  Have you and Azzarello talked about how long you plan on working on the book?
CC: As long as they’ll have us. We have some long term plans for the story, and I’d love to be able to see them though.
H: At every convention we see you at you always manage to have some cool new prints available.  Are you planning on debuting or featuring anything new at the Mini Con?
CC: We’ve got the exclusive MiniCon screenprint by me and Dustin Harbin, for a measly $10! Hopefully, I’ll get another image done for HeroesCon later this year. So much to do!
H: We’re glad you mentioned that! We’re happy that you’ll be back in Charlotte for HeroesCon this summer to help us celebrate our 30th anniversary.
CC: HeroesCon was the first show I was ever invited to as a guest, and since then I’ve come back every year. The people are so warm, the energy is great, and it’s clear that the whole thing is done out of love for comics and the community. I’m proud to be a small part of that. Plus, I’ve made so many good friends in Charlotte that I’m more than happy to be able to spend a few days in Charlotte.
Super (Fly) Mario for the What Not Blog
H: Whose idea was the What Not Blog?
CC: I think it was Reverend Dave Johnson’s brainchild. It’s inspiring to see such a diverse group of artists just messing around like that.
H:Â Where do you guys find the time to do these fully realized illustrations on top of your paying work?!
CC: It can be hard, but it is a lot of fun. I probably should do less-finished stuff and post more often, but sometimes I love an idea and wanna show some more care.
H:Â Finally, what are some of the comics that you’re most looking forward to seeing in 2012?
CC: Two things I’m looking forward to in 2012 are the conclusion to Loose Ends (I did not pay him to say that. -rico.) and the print version of Robbi Rodriguez’s Frankie Get Your Gun.
Thanks to Cliff for taking time to answer a few questions. You can meet him and a slew of other great artists this Sunday at the 35th Anniversary of the Charlotte MiniCon!
Check out Cliff’s website and follow him on Twitter @CliffChiang
